pop_culturefandomcom-20200223-history
Kill Bill: Vol. 2
Kill Bill Volume 2 is a 2004 martial arts action film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino. It is the second of two volumes that were released several months apart. It was originally scheduled for a single theatrical release, but was divided into two films with its running time being over four hours. Kill Bill Volume 1 was released in late 2003, and Kill Bill Volume 2 was released in early 2004. The story follows a character initially identified as "The Bride", a former member of an assassination team who seeks revenge on her ex-colleagues who massacred members of her wedding party and tried to kill her. Her actual name is revealed in Volume 2. Contents http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kill_Bill_Volume_2# hide *1 Plot *2 Cast *3 Music *4 Theatrical release *5 Critical reception *6 Accolades *7 Home release *[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kill_Bill_Volume_2#The_Whole_Bloody_Affair 8 The Whole Bloody Affair] *9 Possible sequel *10 See also *11 References *12 External links Plothttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Kill_Bill_Volume_2&action=edit&section=1 edit In a flashback set before the events of Volume 1, the pregnant Bride and her groom rehearse their wedding. Bill, her former lover, father of her child, and leader of the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad, arrives unexpectedly. On Bill's orders, the Deadly Vipers kill everyone at the wedding, but the Bride survives and swears revenge. Four years later, the Bride has already assassinated the former Deadly Vipers Vernita Green and O-Ren Ishii. She goes to the trailer of Bill's brother and former Deadly Viper Budd (Michael Madsen), planning to ambush him. Budd is expecting her and shoots her in the chest with a shotgun blast of rock salt, then sedates her. He calls Elle Driver (Daryl Hannah), another former Deadly Viper, and arranges to sell her the Bride's Hanzō sword for a million dollars. He seals the Bride inside a coffin and buries her alive. In a flashback, Bill tells the young Bride of the legendary martial arts master Pai Mei (Gordon Liu) and his Five Point Palm Exploding Heart Technique, a death blow that Mei refuses to teach his students. Bill takes the Bride to Mei's temple to be trained by him. Though Mei initially ridicules her, she gains his respect. In the present, the Bride uses Mei's martial arts techniques to break out of the coffin and claw her way to the surface. Elle arrives at Budd's trailer to buy the sword. Budd dies after being bitten by a black mamba Elle hid with the money. She calls Bill and tells him that the Bride killed Budd, and that she has killed the Bride. She uses the Bride's real name: Beatrix Kiddo. As Elle exits the trailer, Beatrix ambushes her and they fight. Elle, who was also taught by Pai Mei, reveals that she poisoned him after he plucked out her eye. Beatrix plucks out Elle's remaining eye and leaves her screaming in the trailer with the black mamba. Beatrix tracks Bill to the Mexican countryside, and discovers that their daughter B.B. (Perla Haney-Jardine) is alive and well, now aged four. She spends the evening with Bill and B.B. After Beatrix puts B.B. to bed, Bill shoots Beatrix with a dart containing truth serum and interrogates her. In a flashback, Beatrix is on a mission to assassinate Lisa Wong. She discovers she is pregnant with Bill's child. She is confronted by Karen Kim, an assassin sent by Lisa Wong to kill Beatrix. When Lisa learns Beatrix is pregnant, they agree to abort their missions and go home. In the present, Beatrix tells Bill that she left him and the Deadly Vipers to give their child a better life. She disables Bill with the Five Point Palm Exploding Heart Technique, which Pai Mei secretly taught her. Bill makes his peace with her and dies. Beatrix leaves with B.B. Casthttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Kill_Bill_Volume_2&action=edit&section=2 edit See also: List of Kill Bill characters*Uma Thurman as The Bride / Beatrix Kiddo (Black Mamba): A former member of the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad who is described as "the deadliest woman in the world". She is targeted by her former allies in the wedding chapel massacre, and falls into a coma. When she awakens four years later, she embarks on a deadly trail of revenge against the perpetrators of the massacre. *David Carradine as Bill (Snake Charmer): The former leader of the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad. He is also the former lover of Beatrix and the father of her daughter. He is the final and eponymous target of Beatrix's revenge. *Lucy Liu as O-Ren Ishii (Cottonmouth): A former member of the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad. She later becomes "Queen of the Tokyo Underworld". She is the first of Beatrix's revenge targets. *Vivica A. Fox as Vernita Green (Copperhead): A former member of the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad. She later becomes a homemaker living under the false name Jeannie Bell. She is the second of Beatrix's revenge targets. *Michael Madsen as Budd (Sidewinder): A former member of the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad and brother of Bill. He later becomes a bouncer living in a trailer. He is the third of Beatrix's revenge targets. *Daryl Hannah as Elle Driver (California Mountain Snake): A former member of the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad. She is the fourth of Beatrix's revenge targets. *Julie Dreyfus as Sofie Fatale: O-Ren's lawyer, best friend, and second lieutenant. She is also a former protégé of Bill's, and was present at the wedding chapel massacre. *Chiaki Kuriyama as Gogo Yubari: O-Ren's high school bodyguard *Sonny Chiba as Hattori Hanzo: Revered as the greatest swordsmith of all time. Although long retired, he agrees to craft a sword for Beatrix. *Gordon Liu as Pai Mei: An immensely powerful and extremely old martial arts master. Bill, Beatrix, and Elle all train under him. *Clark Middleton as Ernie: The man assisting Budd in burying Beatrix alive. *Stephanie L. Moore, Shana Stein, and Caitlin Keats as Joleen, Erica, and Janeen, Beatrix's best friends who are present at the wedding rehearsal. *Bo Svenson as Reverend Harmony: The minister who was to officiate at Beatrix and Tommy's wedding. *Jeannie Epper as Mrs. Harmony: Reverend Harmony's wife. *Chris Nelson as Tommy Plympton: Beatrix's fiancé who is killed in the wedding chapel massacre. *Samuel L. Jackson as "Rufus": The organist who was to perform at Beatrix and Tommy's wedding. *Larry Bishop as Larry Gomez: The abusive manager of the strip club at which Budd works. *Sid Haig as Jay: An employee at the strip club where Budd works. *Michael Parks as Esteban Vihaio: A retired pimp. He was the first of Bill's “father figures”. Beatrix comes to him asking for Bill's whereabouts. *Perla Haney-Jardine as B.B.: The daughter of Beatrix and Bill. She is raised by her father while her mother is comatose. *Helen Kim as Karen: An assassin sent to kill Beatrix. Her attack comes moments after Beatrix learns that she is pregnant. *Lawrence Bender (uncredited) as Hotel clerk Musichttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Kill_Bill_Volume_2&action=edit&section=3 edit Main article: Kill Bill Vol. 2 Original Soundtrack As with Tarantino's previous films, Kill Bill features an eclectic soundtrack comprising many musical genres. On the two soundtracks, music ranges from country musicto selections from the Spaghetti Western film scores of Ennio Morricone. Bernard Herrmann's theme from the film Twisted Nerve is whistled by the menacing Elle Driver in the hospital scene. A brief, 15-second excerpt from the opening of the Ironside theme music by Quincy Jones is used as the Bride's revenge motif, which flares up with a red-tinged flashback whenever she's in the company of her next target.[1] Instrumental tracks from Japanese guitarist Tomoyasu Hotei figure prominently, and after the success of Kill Bill they were frequently used in American TV commercials and at sporting events. The end credits are driven by the rock and roll version of "Malagueña Salerosa", a traditional Mexican song, performed by "Chingon", Robert Rodriguez's band. Theatrical releasehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Kill_Bill_Volume_2&action=edit&section=4 edit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:State_Theater_Ann_Arbor,_MI.jpgThe State Theater Ann Arbor, MI shows a double feature of Kill Bill Vol. 1 & 2 Kill Bill Volume 2 was released in theaters on April 16, 2004. It was originally scheduled to be released on February 20, 2004, but was rescheduled. Variety posited that the delay was to coincide its theatrical release with Volume 1 's release on DVD.[2] In the United States and Canada, Volume 2 was released in 2,971 theaters and grossed $25.1 million on its opening weekend,[3]ranking first at the box office and beating fellow opener The Punisher. Volume 2 's opening weekend gross was higher than''Volume 1'' 's, and the equivalent success confirmed the studio's financial decision to split the film into two theatrical releases.[4]Volume 2 attracted more female theatergoers than Volume 1, with 60% of the audience being male and 56% of the audience being men between the ages of 18 to 29 years old. Volume 2 's opening weekend was the largest to date for Miramax Filmsaside from releases under its arm Dimension Films. The opening weekend was also the largest to date in the month of April for a film restricted in the United States to theatergoers 17 years old and up, besting Life 's 1999 record. Volume 2 's opening weekend was strengthened by the reception of Volume 1 in the previous year among audiences and critics, abundant publicity related to the splitting into two volumes, and the DVD release of Volume 1 in the week before Volume 2 's theatrical release.[5] Outside of the United States and Canada, Volume 2 was released in 20 territories over the weekend of April 23, 2004. It grossed an estimated $17.7 million and ranked first at the international box office, ending an eight-week streak held by The Passion of the Christ.[6] Volume 2 grossed a total of $66.2 million in the United States and Canada and $86 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $152.2 million.[3] Critical receptionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Kill_Bill_Volume_2&action=edit&section=5 edit Kill Bill Volume 2 received positive reviews from film critics, with many praising its direction and saying Tarantino had matured as a filmmaker. For Volume 2, review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a score of 84% based on reviews from 230 critics and reports a rating average of 7.7 out of 10. It reported the consensus, "Talkier and less action-packed than Vol. 1, Kill Bill Vol. 2, nevertheless, delivers the goods for those expecting a satisfying conclusion to this two-parter."[7] AtMetacritic, which assigns a weighted average score out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the film received an average score of 83 based on 42 reviews.[8] Roger Ebert celebrated the films, saying "Put the two parts together, and Tarantino has made a masterful saga that celebrates the martial arts genre while kidding it, loving it, and transcending it.... This is all one film, and now that we see it whole, it's greater than its two parts."[9] In 2009, he placed the film on his twenty best films of the decade list.[10] Accoladeshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Kill_Bill_Volume_2&action=edit&section=6 edit Uma Thurman received a Golden Globe Best Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama nomination in 2005 for her role. David Carradine also received a Best Supporting Actor nomination in the same year. Kill Bill Volume 2 was placed in Empire Magazine's list of the "500 Greatest Films of All Time" at number 423 and the Bride was also ranked number 66 in Empire magazine's "100 Greatest Movie Characters".[11] Home releasehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Kill_Bill_Volume_2&action=edit&section=7 edit In the United States, Volume 2 was released on DVD and VHS on August 10, 2004. In a December 2005 interview, Tarantino addressed the lack of a special edition DVD for Kill Bill by stating "I've been holding off because I've been working on it for so long that I just wanted a year off from Kill Bill and then I'll do the big supplementary DVD package."[12] The United States does not have a DVD boxed set of Kill Bill, though box sets of the two separate volumes are available in other countries, such as France, Japan and the United Kingdom. Upon the DVD release of Volume 2 in the US, however, Best Buy did offer an exclusive box set slipcase to house the two individual releases together.[13] Both Volume 1 and Volume 2, were released in High Definition on Blu-ray on September 9, 2008 in the United States. ''The Whole Bloody Affair''http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Kill_Bill_Volume_2&action=edit&section=8 edit Tarantino announced at the 2008 Provincetown International Film Festival that a single film version of part 1 and 2 called Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair with an extended animation sequence was to be released in May 2009.[14] Screenings of the complete film began on March 27, 2011 at the New Beverly Cinema.[15] This was verified to be the original print that premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 2003,[16] before the decision was made to split the film into two parts due to the roughly four-hour length. Possible sequelhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Kill_Bill_Volume_2&action=edit&section=9 edit In April 2004, Tarantino told Entertainment Weekly in April 2004 that he was planning a sequel: Oh yeah, initially I was thinking this would be my "Dollars Trilogy". I was going to do a new one every ten years. But I need at least fifteen years before I do this again. I've already got the whole mythology: Sofie Fatale will get all of Bill's money. She'll raise Nikki, who'll take on The Bride. Nikki deserves her revenge every bit as much as The Bride deserved hers. I might even shoot a couple of scenes for it now so I can get the actresses while they're this age. At the 2006 Comic Con, Tarantino stated that, after the completion of Grindhouse, he wanted to make two anime Kill Bill films: an origin story about Bill and his mentors, and another origin starring the Bride.[17][18] Details emerged around 2007 about two possible sequels, Kill Bill Volumes 3 and 4. According to the article, "the third film involves the revenge of two killers whose arms and eye were hacked by Uma Thurman in the first stories." The article adds that the "fourth installment of the popular kung fu action films concerns a cycle of reprisals and daughters who avenge their mother's deaths".[19] At the 2009 Morelia International Film Festival, films, Tarantino stated that he intended to make a third Kill Bill film.[20] The same month, he stated that Kill Bill 3 would be his ninth film, and would be released in 2014.[21] He stated that he wanted ten years to pass after the Bride's last conflict, to give her and her daughter a period of peace.[22] In December 2012, Tarantino stated: "I don't know if there's ever going to be a Kill Bill Vol. 3. We'll see, probably not though."[23] Category:2004 films